MIDWEST FLOODING

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

South Korea sends aid to flood-ravaged North
Thu Aug 23, 2:53 AM

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea sent its first batch of emergency aid on Thursday to relieve flooding in North Korea that has killed hundreds, and a top Pyongyang official said the North is aiming to restore basic services by the end of September.
North Korea and international aid agencies said the impoverished state was hit by some of its worst flooding in years earlier this month that ravaged farm land, destroyed thousands of buildings and left more than 300,000 people homeless.A convoy of 34 trucks carrying emergency food rations, water and other goods left South Korea for the North on Thursday. Seoul has pledged to provide 7.1 billion won ($7.6 million) in aid.North Korea has also requested construction materials, a South Korean Red Cross official said, adding the building supplies would probably be sent in another aid shipment soon.

Jo Yong-nam, a senior official with North Korea's flood damage prevention committee, told a pro-Pyongyang newspaper that the communist state did not have enough shelter for its homeless and many were being asked to stay in damaged buildings.The committee is working to finish basic work on restoring damage by the end of September. It starts to get cold in October in this country, Jo told the Choson Sinbo, which is based in Japan.North Korea is urgently trying to repair roads and rail lines destroyed by floods and landslides to help in the delivery of emergency aid, he said in an Internet report monitored in Seoul.The U.N. World Food Programme, which already has a programme on the ground to feed the country's most needy, said on Tuesday it would immediately begin the distribution of emergency food rations.

It reached an agreement with the North Korean government to provide food to 215,000 people affected by the flooding over three months. The flood aid will cost between $5 million to $6 million according to preliminary estimates, it said.North Korea, which already battles food shortages even in years with good harvests, said about 11 percent of the land used to grow grain and maize was made useless by the flooding.

Weakening Dean drenches central Mexico as storm heads inland
Thu Aug 23, 4:22 AM - By Richard Jacobsen

POZA RICA, Mexico (AP) - A weakening Dean dumped heavy rains across central Mexico, drenching mudslide-prone mountains as it pushed its way inland after slamming into the nation's Gulf Coast as a Category 2 hurricane. In the storm-lashed city of Poza Rica, neighbours banded together to clear the streets of fallen trees with axes and machetes, while workers began reconnecting downed power lines. Dean killed 20 people in the Caribbean but there were no reported deaths so far in Mexico. We have emerged in good shape because of our organization, because of our precautions, said Veracruz Gov. Fidel Herrera, while touring hurricane-battered coastal towns. Now we enter the difficult phase of reconstruction and aid.The National Hurricane Center in Miami downgraded Dean to a tropical depression late Wednesday and predicted it would dissipate Thursday as it passed over Mexico's high mountains. But with up to 500 millimetres of rain expected to fall, authorities worried there could still be floods or mudslides. The mountain ranges near Mexico's coast are dotted with villages connected by precarious roads and susceptible to disaster. A rainstorm in 1999 caused floods that killed at least 350 people.

Dean slammed into Mexico for the second time in as many days Wednesday with top sustained winds of 160 km/h. Its centre hit the tourism and fishing town of Tecolutla. The wide storm's hurricane-force winds lashed at a 100-kilometre stretch of the Mexican coast in Veracruz state. As it pushed inland, Poza Rica, located 505 from Tecolutla, became the area's command centre, and hundreds of people remained in shelters there late Wednesday. Maria Patricia Perez, a 40-year-old merchant in Poza Rica, had the tin roof ripped completely off her house. We were afraid it would knock down everything, she said. Exhausted residents described helping one another battle Dean's rains and winds. Shopkeeper Joel Cruz's house was left without electricity or telephone lines after a 30-year-old pine tree gave way, but it could have been worse. Amid the howling winds, his neighbours helped him tie ropes around the tree and they were able to direct its fall away from his home. They also managed to move two cars away just before the giant tree came down. It was an adventure we survived, the 30-year-old Cruz said. Late Wednesday, Poza Rica residents took stock of the damage - and agreed it could have been much worse.

A lot of homes were left without roofs, said Mariano Gutierrez, head of Civil Defence in Poza Rica. Many trees fell on public streets and on houses. There are many fallen signs. But so far, thank God, we don't have anything serious.At 11 p.m., Dean was about 150 kilometres northwest of Mexico City and was heading westward at near 34 km/h. Dean hit the mainland as a Category 2 storm after regaining some of the force it unleashed on the Yucatan. Its first strike on the peninsula Tuesday as a Category 5 tempest with 265 km/h winds was the third most intense Atlantic hurricane ever to make landfall. Mexico had suspended offshore oil production and shut down its only nuclear power plant as tens of thousands headed for higher ground. The state oil company said there was no known damage to any of its production facilities on shore or in the Gulf of Mexico. Producers of corn and sugar cane likely suffered heavy losses in Veracruz, a key agricultural state. Coffee plantations at higher elevations also were threatened by the heavy rains, industry officials said.

Although Dean swept over Yucatan as a rare Category 5 hurricane, which is capable of causing catastrophic damage, the storm's top winds were relatively narrow and appeared to hit just one town: the cruise ship port of Majahual. The few people who had not evacuated Majahual fled ahead of the storm. Dean demolished hundreds of houses, crumpled steel girders, splintered wooden structures and washed away parts of concrete dock that transformed what once was a sleepy fishing village into a top cruise ship destination. Information still was sparse about dozens of inland Mayan Indian communities where people living in stick huts rode out the storm. President Felipe Calderon flew over Yucatan to survey damage Wednesday. Greatly weakened from its trip across the peninsula, Dean moved across the southern Gulf of Mexico, home to 100 oil platforms, three major oil-exporting ports and the Cantarell oil field, Mexico's most productive. All offshore production was halted ahead of the storm, reducing daily production by 2.7 million barrels of oil and 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas. But Pemex said its offshore platforms and loading facilities would emerge without major damage.

Eight dead as floods plague central U.S.
Thu Aug 23, 2:31 AM

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rivers from Nebraska east to Ohio climbed out of their banks on Wednesday, swollen from thunderstorms that soaked the central United States for days and killed at least eight people.The situation appeared to be worsening in Ohio where 21 counties battled high water, with officials declaring a state of emergency in nine of them in the north-central part of the state.Showers and thunderstorms were forecast in that area and in general across the region for much of the week as a front stalled over the Midwest, setting up continued thunderstorms as cold air clashed with moisture-laden air from the Gulf of Mexico.More than 100 people were being evacuated from Findlay, Ohio, with fire and rescue crews using boats to pull people from flooded homes and businesses, Ohio Emergency Management Agency spokesman Tom Hunter said.Cars were submerged and blocks of streets were under water in several towns, and hundreds of residents had been moved to shelters in nearby counties.No injuries have so far been reported, Hunter said.

This is the worst flooding many of these communities have seen in 30 or 40 years and many, many people will have to rebuild homes and lives. Our hearts go out to the families, he said.In Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver issued disaster declarations for five counties mostly in the northwest part of the state, allowing state resources to be deployed to local communities.Some locations are even measuring rain by the foot, the National Weather Service in Des Moines said on Wednesday as it issued a flood warning for parts of Iowa.Areas of southeastern Minnesota and southern Wisconsin were among the hardest hit. Minnesota counted seven dead in storms that began last weekend, with more rain there overnight. Wisconsin issued additional flood warnings. One person was killed in Iowa.Flood or flash flood warnings also were issued for parts of Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana.Parts of Oklahoma and Texas were cleaning up from unrelated flooding that killed more than two dozen people over the weekend after the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin moved through the area.Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry on Wednesday asked the White House to declare three counties in his state disaster areas.

What hit the state last weekend was essentially a small hurricane, and it devastated many communities throughout the state, he said. It is critical that we do everything in our power to see that they receive the help they need.Storms damaged nearly 500 homes in the three Oklahoma counties alone, including 42 that were destroyed and 192 that sustained major damage, he said.(Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins in Cincinnati).

SATAN COMES AGAINST ISRAEL

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

Report: Major Syrian Missile Deployment Nearly Complete
By Ryan Jones - CNSNews.com Correspondent - August 13, 2007

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Syria has almost completed a massive deployment of missiles capable of carrying non-conventional warheads as far as the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel's Army Radio reported on Monday.Military officials say the deployment has enabled Syria to hit strategic installations and civilian population centers throughout northern and central Israel with a barrage of hundreds of missiles within one hour of commencing hostilities.The huge arsenal, most of it supplied by Iran, includes upgraded Scud-D missiles that can deliver payloads of over 1,000 pounds of explosive power, enough to damage entire city blocks in the densely populated Israeli coastal plain.Despite the mounting threat, Defense Minister Ehud Barak insisted he will not order the mass distribution of updated gas masks and emergency medical kits to Israeli families, the radio reported.Barak said such a move could be interpreted by Damascus as preparations for war on Israel's part and further exacerbate the situation.Israeli lawmaker Yuval Steinitz (Likud), chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee on Home Front Preparedness, responded by slamming Barak for repeating the follies of past defense ministers.

The decision not to hand out masks so as not to upset the Syrians reminds me of Moshe Dayan's unfortunate decision not to call up the reserves so as not to upset the Syrians and the Egyptians on the eve of the Yom Kippur War, said Steinitz in remarks carried by The Jerusalem Post.The widely respected Steinitz continued by warning Barak that he will face a commission of inquiry far more severe than the one investigating Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's handling of last summer's war in Lebanon if he fails to adequately defend Israel against such a dire threat.In comments emailed to Cybercast News Service, Professor Steven Plaut of Haifa University said he can't see Syria really starting trouble as it did in 1973, but he did concede that Syria could try to spark a conflict through its Hizballah proxy in Lebanon.

Reports of Hizballah land purchases indicate that just such a scenario may be in the works. The powerful terrorist organization is rapidly buying up land north of the Litani River and using the territory to regroup and retrain its military forces, according to Britain's Sunday Telegraph.Because the land is privately owned, the thousands of United Nations peacekeepers deployed in Lebanon are unable to monitor what Hizballah is doing there. Most of the sellers are Christian and Druze, which for Hizballah carries the added benefit of removing potential allies for Israel from the area.Christians and Druze are selling their land and fleeing. The Shiites are coming. There is a drastic demographic change, a former Christian Lebanese parliamentarian told the newspaper.Military analysts and army officials in Israel have been warning for months that Syria could initiate low-level against Israel, either directly or via Hizballah, with the aim of justifying a major missile strike when Israel retaliates against the initial assault as expected.

The regime in Damascus is said to have learned many lessons from Hizballah's conflict with Israel last year, including that it would not need to actually win a war with the Jewish state, but merely cause enough damage to force a renewal of negotiations over control of the strategic Golan Heights.Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Six Day War, after Syria had used it for the previous 19 years as a launch pad for almost daily minor attacks on northern Israel, as well as two full-scale invasions. Syria has demanded Israel's full withdrawal from the plateau in exchange for a peace agreement ever since, and has on more than one occasion threatened violence if those conditions are not met.

FALSE TEACHERS,PROPHETS,DECIEVERS

MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.

1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

WELL THIS TAKES THE CAKE, CALL GOD ALLAH INSTEAD OF GOD(GOOD LUCK). JESUS IS GOD AND HES THE ONLY WAY PEOPLE CAN BE SAVED BY HIS GRACE THROUGH HIS SHED BLOOD.

Parker: Submitting to use of Allah not the answer
By Kathleen Parker - August 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — It was bound to happen — and it seems fitting that a cleric named Tiny would think of it.Roman Catholic Bishop Tiny Muskens of the Netherlands has decided that the way to ease Muslim-Everybody Else tensions is to start using Allah instead of God. Noting that God does not care what we call him, Muskens thought, why not yield a little to Muslim ways? Or would that be submit, the literal meaning of Islam?

Allah is a very beautiful word for God, Muskens said on Dutch television a few days ago. Shouldn’t we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? Muskens pointed out that in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country where he spent eight years, priests use the word Allah in Catholic Mass.For the sake of peace, prosperity and clarity in the shire, let the record reflect that Muslims did not ask for this, though some in the Netherlands embraced the idea as a conciliatory gesture and in the U.S., some Muslims greeted the suggestion with enthusiasm.Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told FoxNews.com that calling God Allah wouldn’t require a theological leap for Christians.

It reinforces the fact that Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the same God, Hooper said. It’s not hard to understand why Muskens would tilt toward compromise. The Netherlands, which is now home to 1 million Muslims, hasn’t been quite the peace n love axis of the multicultural world, despite clouds of Silver Blue cannabis wafting from the city’s famously mellow coffee houses.Between the 2004 murder of Theo van Gogh, guilty of making a documentary film critical of Islam, death threats against fellow documentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and the recent Muslim attack of the head of a Dutch group for ex-Muslims, one could begin to think of invoking Allah as a savvy survival technique.Besides, as Muskens pointed out, Allah is a lovely sounding word. Thus, in the spirit of Christian charity and Western tolerance, I’ve been trying it out with mixed results.The Doxology of my Protestant childhood is problematic with the two-syllable Allah instead of the monosyllabic God, but not impossible: Praise Allah, from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures here below. Not perfect, but workable.

America’s familiar childhood blessing is downright euphonious: Allah is great, Allah is good, let us thank him for our food. But the Apostle’s Creed is a mess: I believe in Allah the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son ... . Oops.Contrary to Hooper’s one-God claim, Christians and Muslims don’t really worship the same God. Although both religions are monotheistic — and if there’s just one God, there’s just one God — Christians believe Jesus was the Son of God and Muslims think otherwise.That’s not a small doctrinal difference. In fact, at the risk of exhausting the obvious, Christianity doesn’t exist without, um, Christ. Of course we could rewrite the Apostle’s Creed to include Muhammad: I believe in Allah the Father Almighty ... and in Muhammad, his favorite prophet ...The possibilities are infinite, really. Alternatively, we could pretend to be sane and suggest that everybody go to his or her own house of worship, pray to his or her own version of the Creator, and otherwise get a grip.

Changing Western language, symbols and making other accommodations to ease relations between old Europe and new isn’t only a conciliatory gesture or even mere appeasement. It is submission by any other name.Language may be a manmade limitation, as Janaan Hashim said, speaking for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, which endorses Muskens’ idea. But language is not meaningless. The words we use to define and express ourselves are the fundaments of cultural and social identity. John Stuart Mill put it this way: Language is the light of the mind.
Muskens, who retires in a few weeks, conceded that his idea likely wouldn’t catch on right away. We might need another 100 years or so, but he predicted that, eventually, Allah will be the word.Given that European Muslims are procreating at three times the rate of non-Muslims — and given the logarithmic rate of growth of jihadist ideology in the U.S., according to a new report by the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Division — it may be sooner than that.Peace be upon us.
Kathleen Parker writes for the Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Send e-mail to kparker@kparker.com.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Dreamy Lunar Eclipse
08.03.2007

August 3, 2007: Close your eyes, breathe deeply, let your mind wander to a distant seashore: It's late in the day, and the western sun is sinking into the glittering waves. At your feet, damp sand reflects the twilight, while overhead, the deep blue sky fades into a cloudy mélange of sunset copper and gold, so vivid it almost takes your breath away.A breeze touches the back of your neck, and you turn to see a pale full Moon rising into the night. Hmmm. The Moon could use a dash more color. You reach out, grab a handful of sunset, and drape the Moon with phantasmic light. Much better. Too bad it's only a dream...

Early Tuesday morning, August 28th, the dream will come true. There's going to be a colorful lunar eclipse visible from five continents including most of North America: map.The event begins 54 minutes past midnight PDT (0754 UT) on August 28th when the Moon enters Earth's shadow. At first, there's little change. The outskirts of Earth's shadow are as pale as the Moon itself; an onlooker might not even realize anything is happening. But as the Moon penetrates deeper, a startling metamorphosis occurs. Around 2:52 am PDT (0952 UT), the color of the Moon changes from moondust-gray to sunset-red. This is totality, and it lasts for 90 minutes.

To understand why the change occurs, close your eyes and dream yourself all the way to the Moon. Once again, you're standing on a seashore—the Sea of Tranquillity. There's no water. You're surrounded by hundreds of miles of dusty, hardened lava. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the Sun behind it. The eclipse is underway.With the Sun blocked, you might expect utter darkness, but no, the ground at your feet is aglow. Why? Look back up at Earth. The rim of the planet seems to be on fire. Around Earth's circumference you see every sunrise and sunset in the world—all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, transforming the Moon into a landscape of copper moondust and golden hills.

Wake up! This is really going to happen, and some planning is necessary. Start times of totality are listed in the table below. Set your alarm an hour or so in advance to gather snacks and dress warmly. (Even in August, four o'clock in the morning can be chilly.) Waking up early also allows you to catch some of the partial eclipse before totality.The eclipse will be visible from Australia, Japan, parts of Asia and most of the Americas, but not from Africa or Europe. Pacific observers are favored. On the west coast of the United States, the entire eclipse will unfold high in the post-midnight sky. On the east coast, totality will be truncated by sunrise. That's okay; even a little eclipse can be a dream.